ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dry heat processing remains the most promising and simple approach for achieving better gelling properties of spray-dried egg white powder (EWP). Water mobility and intermolecular interactions in gels derived from EWP were investigated after subjecting EWP to various dry heating times (0-21 days). RESULTS: The gel hardness and water-holding capacity significantly increased with an increase in dry heating time (P < 0.05), and both parameters were positively correlated with gel transparency. In contrast to the coarser structure of untreated EWP gel, the gel of EWP corresponding to 15 days of dry heating time had a fine-stranded and orderly network structure with smaller pores. An increase in the binding force between the gel and water was observed with an increase in dry heating time due to the formation of more 'protein-water' hydrogen bonds. Increasing the dry heating time resulted in an increase in the contribution of disulfide bonds, which in turn made a significant contribution to the rigidity of the EWP gels. By contrast, a decrease in the contribution of ionic bonds and hydrophobic interactions upon increasing the dry heating time promoted the formation of orderly networks. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, gel corresponding to EWP dry heating for 15 days had better gel properties, the highest transparency and water-holding capacity, as well as a fine-stranded and orderly network structure. These results provide more information on improvement of the gel properties of EWP through dry heat treatment. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.